There is an interesting article by Larry Getlen in today’s NY Post, commenting on The Cancer Chronicles, a book by George Johnson. The scientist comes to many surprising conclusions based on research: veggies don’t help, meat is okay, carcinogens are a myth. He claims the cancer rates of the survivors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl are barely different from that of the general population of any area. A man who was on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs fell lived to 93. Johnson’s advice is: don’t smoke and keep weight in check. Science was my worst subject, so take the following with a grain of salt: I believe fighting cancer is a matter of genes. One either has those that beat it back or doesn’t. I suspect that their capacities diminish, like everything else does, over time, and that bad habits diminish their effectiveness.
Death in Paradise is yet another BBC mystery broadcast on PBS. It has a far different setting and tone than most of the productions. It features a London detective exiled to a tropic isle, where the murder rate seems very high. Very British, as repressed as someone John Cleese would lampoon, he is a fish out of water in his new workplace and spars verbally with his assistant, whose character’s roots are French-African. Ben Miller and Sara Martins are charming as the leads, as is the rest of the cast. It’s light-hearted and colorful. At the end of each episode the sleuth gathers all the suspects in a room and explains how he solved the case, a traditional Agatha Christie-like approach. In last night’s, about a nun’s death, I guessed the identity of the murderer immediately. The mother superior was played by Gemma Jones, who was the KGB mole, Connie James, on MI5. Miranda Raison, who played the lovely, terrorized Jo Portman, has also guested on the series as a suspect.
Today I concentrated largely on selling my own books and those of January Valentine, my literary angel. It appeared as if it was the wrong move until the last 20 minutes of the session, when young Ilya bought A Hitch in Twilight. Thank you, sir, and also to Neil, who bought Scar Tissue, the memoir of Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band I believed was destined for greatness but has been a disappointment. There is no denying the members are talented, and they've sold a lot of records, but I would be surprised if their works endure, at least those I've heard. Then again, maybe I just got too old for what they do. I also had a visit from Dennis, who has purchased three of my books. I was saddened to learn he fell off the wagon for a while. Fortunately, he's back on. He told me of an idea he has for a book involving a conspiracy theory I don't believe anyone has tackled. I think it would be a winner whether it was done as fiction or non. It's so good and so original I won't reveal it, certain it would be stolen. Good luck, sir.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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