The Writer's Life 11/29 - Scary Noel

What about kids who are naughty and not nice? What do they get on Christmas? There's an answer from across the pond, where Europeans have been keeping a new tradition, honoring Krampus, a mischievous incarnation, the anti-Christmas. It is celebrated on December 5th, the day before St. Nicholas Day. Towns erupt in antics similar to our Halloween. There are American films about him on the way, one starring Toni Collette opening on the 4th. Here’s one artist’s interpretation of the being -it's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

Mike Hessman, 37, is hanging up his spikes after a 20 year career in baseball, most of it below the radar. According to an article at Yahoo Sports, he holds the all-time USA-Canada minor league home run mark, 433. He also hit 14 over parts of five seasons in MLB that included a stint with the Mets, and seven in two seasons in Japan. Hector Espinosa of the Mexican League holds the all-time minor league record, 484 round-trippers. Kevin Costner/Crash Davis holds the fictional record in Bull Durham (1988).

Remember when Rodney Dangerfield fidgeted and complained: "Tough crowd, tough crowd." That applies to fans and administrators of select sports teams who gauge success strictly by championships. The University of Georgia is an example. Today it fired head football coach Mark Richt, whose record in his 15 years at the helm of the Bulldogs was 145-51. He had only one losing season, 6-7 in 2010. This season UG went 9-3. What did him in? He hasn't won an SEC championship since 2005, and he has gone 5-10 vs. arch-rival Florida. He'll have no trouble finding work. With his matinee idol looks, it wouldn't be surprising to see him land a TV gig.

My thanks to the elderly gentleman with the sweet brogue who purchased a thick work of non-fiction, In the Land of Invisible Women, Qanta Ahmed's take on Saudi Arabia; and the one who donated two thrillers and insisted on paying for Michael Connelly's The Reversal.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic'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://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

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/