VIN SCULLY

Mind you, I’ve never been

west of the Mississippi

but each night this summer

in my bed I’m listening to

a strange bedtime story-

thanks to modern technology.

There’s a light blue glow

on the ceiling of my room

as I lay still and soak in the

lullaby of each Dodgers game

especially if it is his voice-

the sound of seasons past.

I imagine drinking Coronitas

in the parking lot while radios

blast the songs of Sublime.

I wonder if there are statues

to honor the great Sandy Koufax,

Jackie Robinson, or Kirk Gibson.

I dream of sitting in the bleachers

in Chavez Ravine without a jacket

or hat knowing the chance of rain

is just small talk, a bit of rumor.

I’d eat a Dodger Dog as the sun set

over the infamous Freeway traffic.

Without fail, after a few innings

I begin to fade away to sleep.

My wife come up to yell at me,

“Turn that off, you’re sleeping,”

she says and I roll over knowing

I’ll check the score in the morning.

VIRAL

spreading like a disease, with over 800,000 hits, still going

they’re fighting in the streets, kicking each other in the ribs,

dragging women by their hair, beating each other down in

school yards, restaurants, on city buses, put it on You Tube.

Bystanders, no longer stand by, they hold their phones up high.

Commenting on the action, laughing at the poundings, gasping

at the beatings, shocked by the blood flow, but still recording.

No one tries to break it up, avert the crisis, diffuse the conflict,

or call the cops, happy to push record,  glad the beating is not

on them, while others sit at home- clicking, watching, sharing.

MONSTER MOVIES ON TV, B.C.

Television before cable, 13 channels if you count the UHF,

did it even work, remember antennas on all the rooftops?

When the set was busted, we’d say Oh no, better call Ono!

Mr. Ono, a TV repair guy knew how to get it working again.

Now we put them on the curb, head on down to Best Buy.

Creature Double Feature on 48, Dr. Shock on channel 17 

from Philly, same time, Saturday afternoons, the Seventies.

Mighty Joe Young always on Channel 9, not sure about 5,

maybe that’s where Abbott and Costello met the monsters?

Now we laugh, can’t believe we watched in black and white.

When it was a little chilly and rainy on a Saturday, she’d say

Be a good day for a nap on the sofa and a Godzilla movie.

How come they don’t have any scary movies on TV anymore?

Only people our age would know what she meant by this.

Now it’s easy, she grabs the remote and finds one on Netflix.

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

In the dead of winter, I get up early to

find my house too cold, the heater runs,

but it’s blowing cold air out of the vents.

The thermostat tells me it’s 63 degrees.

I think about what to do as I know the

serviceman won’t come out right away.

I’m bad at fixing things, I never know

how to start, I don’t have the right tools.

I go to You Tube and look for free advice,

and I know what that’s worth- nothing.

I type in- my heater is blowing cold air.

Each guy talks too much with their hands,

they all have mustaches, slight accents,

they wear khaki pants and polo shirts.

They look like they’re somebody’s Dad.

They say the same things, be sure to check

the thermostat’s batteries, the breakers,

the filter, change the filter and make sure

none of the vents are  blocked by furniture.

Look for flashing lights on the bottom, then

count the number of flashes, it’ll tell what’s

wrong with your unit, read the panel door.

Perhaps it’s the thermocoupler? It’s probably

dirty, they show me how to properly clean it.

Be careful as you could damage the sensors.

Be careful as you might get yourself electrocuted.

The last word of advice from them all is the same-

if you’re unsure, don’t attempt to repair it yourself,

consult the yellow pages, call a licensed professional.

And after an hour, that’s the advice I chose to follow.

THE JOY OF SHADOW PUPPETS

Those were the days of record players,

View-Masters, filmstrips, and projectors.

Watching a movie in school meant it had

to be set up carefully, ahead of time by a

teacher who knew how to thread it over

loops, metal frames, rollers, and spindles.

We watched filmstrips and felt honored

when chosen to be the one to turn a knob.

We listened carefully for a narrator to stop

and heard the “boop” from a record player.

At the end of each filmstrip or movie viewing

we’d fall all over each other, like little moths

wanting to get to the screen to try and make

shadow puppets on the wall. It didn’t last long,

as the teacher ended it quickly with her usual-

“All right, all right. That’s enough. Settle down.”

Thirty five years later it’s a new age with 

iPads, X-box, internet, DVD players in cars.

I’m the teacher now and present each lesson

with a laptop, Power Point, and LCD projector.

Strangely,after the advances in technology and

all the time that’s passed, kids still find magic in

trying to make barking dogs or soaring eagles with

their hands, a bulb’s glare and shadows on the wall.

And that's why I pause before shutting off the light.

BLAME THE TECHNOLOGY

Her son throws tantrums when she calls him
to eat, since he must turn off his Playstation 3.
He can’t pay attention in class and finds
everything boring, especially teachers talking.
He hates to read books and tells everyone
how he doesn’t like to write or go to school.

His nephew walks around the house blasting
his iPod, wears it at the dinner table, on the bus,
in the halls, and all he wants to do is listen to
his music. His Algebra teacher writes and
performs rap lyrics to teach him the math,
but he does no homework and fails all the tests.

Her neighbor’s kids watch Disney movies on the
back of the car’s headrests as they drive down
the road and don’t talk to each other,and don’t
look out the window when the parents are driving.
The kids don’t know where their grandparents live,
the name of their dentist or what town they are in.

Her grandchildren sit at the restaurant table and play
Nintendo DS instead of interacting with the family.
They can’t sit in a chair, hold their heads up, order meals,
eat with manners and barely touch their plates.
They complain how the food sucks and how full they are.
They order big desserts and take a few bites before going
back to watch more YouTube videos on their iPod Touch.

Her friend’s daughter copies full passages from
Wikipedia and Google, but denies plagiarizing.
She also has been sending inappropriate photos to
her boyfriend, who then sent them to his buddies.
A group of her friends team up to humiliate the new
girl on Facebook, MySpace, and Instant Messaging.

Your friend’s son never leaves the basement and
no longer has an interest in sports or going outside.
Instead he plays Call of Duty and interacts via his
character in the game and a headset to talk to
some guys that he’s met through X-Box Live.
He doesn’t clean his own room, make his bed,
take out the trash, rake leaves, or mow the lawn.

Her cousin was let go from his part time job for
sexting with a female employee, who liked it
at first, but got angry when she found out
how he was doing it with all the girls at work.
She told the supervisor and he was terminated
immediately in order to avoid a harassment lawsuit.

Each night their daughter was on the computer
chatting with a strange man in Missouri, who
forced her to take her clothes off and participate
in sex acts while using the video camera and Skype.
She told her parents when they found her packing
her suitcase on the way to meet the man who told
her she had to buy a bus ticket to meet up with him.