President O-Bomb-a

I know I'm late in saying this, but I still remember 9/11.

When I first saw the footage of the towers, I knew it was real, but I couldn't believe it. It seemed like a scene from an action movie to me.

Even today, I still have trouble believing it. With the senseless violence that happened, it infuriates me that President Obama gave the order for more military force in the Middle East.

On September 10th, 2001, President Bill Clinton said to businessmen in Australia that he "had a shot" at killing Osama Bin Laden, the man credited with the 9/11 attacks, at one point in his term in 1998 (http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80965970/).

But he didn't.

“I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than him.”

One could argue that Clinton destroying that town would have prevented the 9/11 attacks, and saved the lives of those killed in the World Trade Center attacks, but a chunk of his soul would have been destroyed.

Yes, Obama claimed in his prime time address Wednesday night at 9 that he wants to "destroy ISIS," but how many bombs must the President drop before he completely loses his soul? There is a very real chance that innocent civilians in Iraq and Syria could end up in the crossfire.

Consider this: the United Kingdom nonprofit, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, estimates that "[i]n Pakistan alone . . . between 416 and 951 civilians, including 168 to 200 children, have been killed" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/obama-drone-program-anniversary_n_4654825.html). How would President Obama feel if his family were in the middle of the chaos of Iraq and Syria? He probably would not have been so eager to make the call to increase drone strikes. 

I will always remember 9/11, and I hurt for the people who died and those they left on this Earth, but as writer Marjane Satrapi said, "It’s ridiculous: “bringing” democracy by bombing countries, like it’s a color of paint" (http://stuffboston.com/2012/04/24/graphic-content#.VBKLu47bc20).

Why the U.S. World Cup Team will win, even if it loses.

It is 35 minutes into the United States' match with Belgium in the Round 16 game of the FIFA World Cup. They were placed in Group G, the "group of death," as NPR put it. Even the team's coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, had little faith in the team's odds at becoming World Cup champions;

"We cannot win this World Cup, because we are not at that level yet. For us, we have to play the game of our lives seven times to win the tournament." (npr.org)

Whether the U.S. defeats won't make what the U.S. has accomplished any less memorable. Three times in a row, the U.S. did play the game of their lives. They won the first game with Ghana 2-1, tied with Portugal 2-2, and, against Germany, as Stephen Colbert, wearing a red, Styrofoam finger, exuberantly shouted on "The Colbert Report," "We came, we saw, and we lost!"

But they lost with style. As the narrator of the game put it, it was "a matter of pride" (ESPN). Thanks to a 2-1 victory from Portugal against Ghana (time.com) towards the end of the U.S. game, the team would be advancing to the knockout rounds anyway, but sometimes, it really is how you play the game that matters. They fought hard, determined "not to let Germany score another point," as the game's narrator put it. And the entire game was played in the pouring rain.

I don't think anybody expected the team to get this far. But, whether the U.S. wins the World Cup or not, it proved its doubters wrong. A small miracle happened, too: the U.S. team got me interested in soccer, or football, as the rest of the world calls it.

Shout it out loud, Stephen Colbert. "We're number two! We're number two!"

Restaurant Review: The Quarters

The very first sketch in the IFC comedy series “Portlandia,” is a song that talks about the dream of the ‘90s, a time where people “could sleep ‘til 11” and “spend a couple hours a week working at a coffee shop.”

“The dream of the ‘90s is alive in Portland.”

Now, let me tell you about the dream of the ‘80s.

It was a time when people didn’t have smart phones. There were no app stores or online play. If you wanted to play video games, you either played on the NES or Commodore 64, or you went to an arcade, a magical place where there were beautiful standup cabinets with dynamic artwork and screens with bright minimalist graphics. There were joysticks and buttons that felt springy when you pressed your fingers against them. And there were people. Real people. You weren’t cooped up in your room on the Xbox or hunched over your iPhone like Quasi Moto. The games were out there in the open, for all to gaze upon.

The dream of the ‘80s is alive at The Quarters.

Located at 8 Railroad Street in Hadley, MA, off of Route 9, and sharing the same building as the Blueprint Gallery and Tattoo Parlor, the Quarters is a restaurant/ bar/arcade combo boasting 20+ classic arcade games. When you first walk in the door, you will find a hallway with large pixel art of the original Super Mario Bros. posted on the wall. This gives you a good idea of what you’re in for, as you enter the main room. There is a bar at the side, tables at the center, and beautiful Technicolor arcade machines lining the walls. It is a little more cramped than one would prefer. People in attendance included the young, the young at heart, and gentlemen with handlebar mustaches.

There is an assortment of eclectic food varieties as well, including fried chicken fingers and traditional New York pups, basically the White Castle sliders of the hot dog world, with ketchup, mustard, and onions. What fun is a normal hot dog, though? There are macaroni and cheese pups, kimchi pups and banh mi pups. There’s even chili-lime edamame.  The New York pup is $1.50, and the other dogs are $2.00, which sounds good, but you need at least two or three to feel satisfied. You could order French fries, but a serving costs $5, and it is a fairly large load, so share with friends. The hot dogs are a little on the salty side, but add some toppings, and it is perfectly consumable. I had the Mac and Cheese Pups, sweet potato fries, and a couple of my friend’s fried chicken fingers, which were the tastiest item. Sodas are $3 each, and are served in mason jars. A nice aesthetic. Free refills are nice, too.

The games include classics like Ms. Pac Man and Galaga, as well as Street Fighter III: Third Strike, and my personal favorite, The Simpsons. Electronic noises produced a great ambience in the room, like a jumbled up chip tune/Daft Punk remix, but I think Asteroids may have been the only cabinet to have had any actual audio when I played it. The Ms. Pac Man machine was out of commission, due to a kill-screen, which results in a player completing all the levels of a game, and the system crashing. Two of the machines ate my quarters. And as compensation, I got game tokens to replace them. So the staff that provided them was basically saying “Your quarters are ours, no matter what, but as thanks, we’ll let you play free games.” What if I just wanted to leave with my quarters?

Also, as much as The Quarters is supposed to be a social setting, there were surprisingly few arcade machines that had a multi-player option. I wanted to play one game, but my friend who was there with me wanted to play another. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade cabinet would have been the perfect antidote.

As much as it is rough around the edges, The Quarters is a welcomed piece of nostalgia. I’m hoping those buggy machines get fixed, and that more multiplayer options are available, because I certainly want to be a loyal customer.

Words and Pictures as art exhibit "Bookwork" draws Crowd

The worlds of sculpture and the written word collided in an art showing at Holyoke’s small, independent book store “The White Rose” on 284 High Street on Saturday, March 1^st, from 5 to 7 P.M. The works on display are from Adam John Mulcahy, antiques salesman and graphic design student at Holyoke Community College. The works, utilizing found objects and abandoned books, will be available for show until April 1^st.

One of Adam John Mulcahy's works. Source: Facebook

Pages are circled, crossed out, and rearranged alongside collages of pictures, from children to young couples to simple farmers. They culminate to depict ordinary people caught in the crossfires of war. The words take on a lyrical quality, almost Hemingway-esque, in their brevity.

“I read a lot of Hunter S. Thompson, John Steinbeck, Tim Dorsey, Charles Bukowski,” said the artist. “I also read a lot of books about organic farming and Buddhism. The Bookwork show was inspired by all of the books I have read and by my life experiences.”

He is less of a writer than an artist, according to him.

“I’ve done some writing every once in a while,” said Adam. “It’s more of a hobby.”

The showing was greeted by a packed room. There were free hors d’oeuvres, wine, and coffee for all. 

Down the Rabbit Hole

The rabbit has been sparking a good deal of controversy.

 On December 16^th, 2013, one day after the funeral of South African President Nelson Mandela, an approximately 30 foot tall statue of the iconic leader was unveiled outside of the Union Buildings, the South African government's central headquarters, outside of Pretoria (bbc.co.uk).

The artists of the piece, Andre Prinsloo and Ruhan Janse van Vuuren, were allegedly not allowed by officials to engrave their names upon the statue's trousers (guardian.com), so, in a brazen act of defiance, they inserted their own trademark: a statue of a rabbit hidden in one of the ears.

The rabbit is said to have been placed there due to the tight time constraints for getting the project complete. The Afrikaans language word "haas" means both rabbit and haste (bbc.co.uk).

South Africa's government wants the rabbit removed.

"That statue isn't just a statue of a man,” said Dali Tambo, CEO of Koketso Growth, the heritage development company that managed the statue project. “It's the statue of a struggle, and one of the most noble in human history," Tambo said. "So it's belittling, in my opinion, if you then take it in a jocular way and start adding rabbits in the ear" (theguardian.com).

Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994, shortly after his 27 year imprisonment for his activism against South African apartheid (independent.co.uk). Mandela was famously known for his willingness to forgive his oppressors, and his openness and embrace of all members of the South African community, both black and white.

While the artists have since apologized for any offense that they may have caused (bbc.co.uk), there is the question of artistic integrity that must be considered. Did these artists have any right to include this insignia?

At first, I was sympathetic towards the two artists. Although the statue itself cost a cool 8,000,000 rand (over 700,000 dollars), being your own boss implies that you have no guarantee of a steady paycheck. You have to do what it takes to get your name out there in the world, so that you may generate more business.

However, after discovering that the artists’ names were going to be on a plaque right next to the statue, this seems like an act of cockiness and arrogance (news.yahoo.com). The artists would have received credit anyway, so it seems likely that they were a little too  attached to their work and have a little too big egos to be satisfied with that.

How could the government not see that coming? As an artist myself, I can say with certainty that we are deeply attached to our work, and when we don’t have creative control over how that work is presented, then we can take it a little personally. I understand that Dali Tambo said that the signatures “could be added on the statue in a discreet place, maybe on Mandela's heel" (mydailynews.com). The problem is that that statue is Prinsloo’s and van Vuuren’s baby, so they wanted to put their mark on it in whatever way they saw fit.

Even with this disobedience to authority, I don’t think there is really much of an offense. It was the most benign way that they could have included their trademark. It wasn't like they included a giant rat on the statue, which is probably something London street artist Banksy would have done.

“You need a long lens or binoculars to see it,” Prinsloo said (bbc.co.uk).

Either way, if the Prinsloo and van Vuuren weren't known by the world before, then it certainly knows them now.