The Writer's Life 1/12 - Rallies

Yesterday’s rally in Paris was impressive, but I’m not sure it accomplished anything but catharsis for the participants. The enemies of freedom will not be deterred. I don’t know what the gun laws are in Europe. Given its socialist bent, I imagine they’re restrictive. Any attack not detected by intelligence will be stopped only one way -- by the presence of an armed citizen, civilian or police. As for the absence of top U.S. politicians at the rally, it certainly looks bad, but our Ambassador, Jane Hartley, was present. I’m no fan of the President and have almost zero confidence in him, but the criticism seems like another case of partisanship.

And in matters far less important: the Cowboys were served what their detractors believe was poetic justice, brought down by a controversial ruling one week after being saved by one… I’m very surprised the Colts won. I thought the Broncos would prevail at home despite Peyton Manning’s deterioration. Can Indy win at New England? That would be an upset for the ages. I think the Packers have an excellent shot in Seattle. Despite the Seahawk’s talent, I’m always leery of their penchant for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. If they lost that way, it would indeed be poetic justice... Some people are surprised Rex Ryan has chosen the Buffalo Bills. I'm not. They seem a team on the rise. Good luck with the weather, though, Coach.

A friend sent me a youtube clip of the meatball skit from The Abbott and Costello Show. It’s not one of their best, as for some bizarre, unexplained reason the Italian-American Costello, born Cristillo in Paterson NJ, hates meatballs. Its saving grace is the presence of one of my favorites characters from the show, Bacciagalupe, played by Joe Kirk, born Ignazio Curcuruto in NYC. Although he has only 61 credits listed at IMDb, he extensively worked in vaudeville and radio. The series, which ran two seasons, 52 episodes, also features another great mainstay, Sid Fields, born Feldman in Milwaukee. I was shocked he has only 20 credits as an actor at IMDb. He too worked extensively in carnivals, vaudeville and radio. I was surprised to learn he was also a writer, contributing to screenplays and to 25 episodes of A&C. (Facts also from Wiki) Here are pics of these talented comics, Kirk first:

I've spent a good portion of this rainy day assigning pages to my rock n roll epic, Rising Star. To keep it from be more tedious than it has to be, I do it in increments of 25. I should be done tomorrow. I will then re-submit the file and check the Create Space reviewer to see what it looks like. I'm not optimistic.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/