Total Pageviews

Friday, April 7, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/7 - Troubled World

The job of President of the United States is never easy. The difficulty increases dramatically when armed force is used. I'm certain that Donald Trump wants to do business, deals, not war. Just days ago officials, including the president, seemed reluctant to take further action in Syria, where U.S. ground forces are participating, despite the carnage that has taken place. Assad forced Trump's hand, and the Commander in Chief acted appropriately. Who can say where will this lead? Hopefully, the planet's tyrants will now think twice about perpetrating heinous acts. Unfortunately, I doubt it will end here. History indicates it won't. Sadly, we are in a conflict that will last decades, the attack today in Sweden merely another paragraph. Getting rid of Assad will be difficult, but it consequences would likely be benign. Only the most fanatical terrorists would use it as a propaganda weapon, which they do with anything, anyway. Getting rid of the leader of North Korea seems impossible. If accomplished, the consequences might be dire. Surrounding nations should be supplied with missile defense systems. The prospects for world peace seem even grimmer than usual. Good luck, Mr. President, and also to justice Neil Gorsuch, confirmed today by the so-called nuclear option. The vote was 54-45.

Fortunately, life goes on despite the world's chaos. Even though the stretch of annoying weather continued, the floating book shop got lucky. As I was setting up shop, a gentleman approached and asked if I wanted a cache of Russian books and regular DVD's. He returned five minutes later with a shopping cart. There were at least 40 books, most, judging by the covers, fantasy, and more than 50 popular movies, most action-oriented. All of the session's sales, except one CD, were books in Russian. My thanks to the buyers, and to the elderly lady who has been such a good customer, who donated eight books in her native tongue.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, April 6, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/6 - Mr. Warmth & Others

RIP Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles, 90, a Queens boy who made it big in Hollywood through sheer force of will. IMDb lists 83 credits under his name, most of them voice-overs in animation. Of course, his most memorable work came in his appearances on talk shows and Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast. He served in the Navy during WWII. He began his insult shtick when he realized his barbs at hecklers got bigger laughs than his prepared material. He enjoyed a rare, successful Hollywood union that lasted from when he was 38 until his death. Here's a telling quote attributed to him: "Some people say funny things, but I say things funny." Thank you, sir.

In today's NY Post there is a profile of Joe Binder, 107, who lives in a Bronx nursing home and still plays the ukulele. An accompanying piece notes that there are 370 male, 1700 female centenarians, I assume worldwide. The article didn't specify.

Here's a list of movies that earned less than $400 at the box office, gleaned from mentalfloss.com, edited by yours truly. There were eleven. I dropped two I thought shouldn't have been included. One, a Serbian production, was very popular in its homeland, highly respected by critics, rated 8.7 on a scale of ten by users at IMDb:

Zyzzyx Road (2006) Gross: $30. its tagline was “Dead Ahead,” which seems prophetic in retrospect. It stars Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl. It played in only one theater, in Dallas, for a week. Six people ponied up. ZR is the lowest grossing movie of all time. 867 users at IMDb rate it 4.2.
Storage 24 (2013) Gross: $72. This British horror tale also played for only a week in one theater. Rated 4.4 by 5723.
Dog Eat Dog (2009) Gross: $80. It was a box office failure despite a slew of awards and nominations at film festivals and other key industry events around the world, including a World Cinema Grand Jury Prize nomination at Sundance. Folks at IMDb agree the Colombian production has been overlooked, rating it 6.7.
The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (2012) Gross: $117. The 1950s-inspired sci-fi musical nabbed five awards on the American film festival circuit, but earned only $2436 in re-release. Rated 5.7 by 360.
Playback (2012) Gross: $264. Even Christian Slater's presence failed to drum up interest in what is deemed a rip-off of The Ring (2002). Rated 4.3 by 4247.
Intervention (2007) Gross: $279. It played in one theater for three days. The tale of addiction won the Best Feature Film Award at the 2007 San Diego Film Festival, and a Best Actress honor for Jennifer Tilly. The cast includes Andie MacDowell, Colm Feore, Rupert Graves, and former Baywatch babe Donna D’Errico. Rated five by 160.
Trojan War (1997) Gross: $309. Two years after she became a series regular on Party of Five, Jennifer Love-Hewitt starred in this rom-com about a kid who gets beat up, mugged, and arrested on his quest to find a condom. It was pulled from its one theater less than a week after its arrival. Rated 5.7 by 4962.
The Marsh (2007) Gross: $336. Less than a month after receiving an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006), Forest Whitaker, and Gabrielle Anwar, starred in this supernatural thriller. It ran in one theater for three days and recouped less than .005% of its $7 million budget. Rated 4.9 by 2741.
Apartment 143 (2012) Gross: $383. This Mexican horror flick earned a Golden Trailer Award nomination for Best Horror Poster, and little else. Rated 5.1 by 9907.

The floating book shop was rained out today.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc


Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/5 - Minutes

According to an article in the NY Post, evidence in the bribery case against Joe Percoco, one of governor Andrew Cuomo's most trusted aides, includes eleven million pages of material and images from 22 electronic devices. How is this possible? To give this a bit of perspective, there are 525,000 minutes in a year. Percoco is 47. He's lived more than 24 million minutes. Subtract time for sleep and his youth from that and it comes to roughly one page for every minute of his adult life. That's impressive even for someone involved in politics.

I had a vivid dream just before waking. Nick, a childhood friend I haven't seen in at least 30 years, was on the floor, the fists of his son, who was about ten the only time I've seen him, plunged deep into his eyes. Soon he was recovered, his eyes blue. I'm pretty sure they're brown. Then he was a lecturer at an education forum. He asked me to join his faculty. So what is the interpretation? The part about the eyes may have something to do with Nick being an alcoholic, which his cousin John mentioned to me years ago. John's wife suggested I write a book about Nick's family. There were seven kids. The lives of several ended badly. The father was a neo-Nazi. As for my being asked to teach, which I have no desire whatsoever to do, I wonder if it has to do simply with enjoying being asked. Nick wasn't an educator. He went into sales after veering away from the family optometry business. He moved to Florida. What triggered the dream? That's easy - Chinga, season five, episode ten of The X-Files, which aired last night on My9 in NYC. In it, a doll opens its eyes, says "Let's have fun," and the people in a supermarket begin scratching at their eyes, drawing blood. It was co-written by series creator Chris Carter and Stephen King. In Spanish, Chinga has naughty connotation, as in chin-ga-me, which means do me. If any mention of that was made in the episode, I missed it.

My thanks to Ira, who bought a book on cryptology, and to the woman who bought two hardcover novels by Bleva Plain, and to the gentleman who bought Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius by Ray Monk. Born in Vienna, Wittgenstein, who died in 1951, is considered one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. I was familiar with the name but clueless as to his major ideas, so I ran a search on him. He seems a philosopher's philosopher. Even the summaries were dense, at least to this pedestrian mind. Only one of his books was published during his lifetime - Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

Caroline has been a fixture in the neighborhood for decades. Everyone recognizes her chic style and enjoys her congenial manner. She will be moving soon, as her landlord sold the house in which she lives. She is having a tough time finding housing that meets her tight budget. 53, she has been ill most of her life, awakened from a coma twice, although one would not know it looking at her. I heard from someone that she was born with a hole in her liver. She is on disability and works odd jobs such as dog or house sitting. She may have no recourse but to move into a shelter. Today she donated a blend of 30 CD's and DVD's, and promised more. Thank you, madam.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc


Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/4 - Sci-Fi Meets Real World

It had to happen sooner or later.  A Chinese artificial intelligence engineer has given up on the search for love and married a robot he built himself. Zheng Jiajia, 31, decided to make the commitment after failing to find a human spouse. He'd tired of constant nagging from his family to wed, so he turned to Yingying. After two months of dating, he married her at a ceremony attended by his mother and friends. While not officially recognized by the authorities, the union had all the trappings of a typical Chinese wedding. Yingying’s head was covered with a red cloth in accordance with local tradition. For now she/it can only read a few Chinese characters and images and speak a few simple words, but Zheng plans to upgrade his bride to be able to walk and do household chores. Until then he has to carry the 30kg robot to move her. In China there are 113 women for every 100 men. (Edited by yours truly.) Here's a pic of the happy couple. It and the article are at theguardian.com:



Also in China: To stop the theft of toilet paper from public stalls, someone has invented a device that dispenses two-feet of TP every nine minutes. That should just about cover it... At Sweden's Epicenter, numerous workers have consented to having a chip implanted in the hand. It serves as a swipe card... In Canada in 2016, there were 1131 UFO sightings. Of course, The X-Files was filmed there. (All three items gleaned from the NY Post, reworded by yt.)

There is fake news and there are fake college basketball programs. Last night the University of North Carolina won the NCAA tournament. The school is currently under investigation for fraud. Many football and basketball players were given passing grades in no-show courses... Also in college basketball: former NY Knicks center Patrick Ewing has been hired as head coach by Georgetown University, which he led to a national championship in the '80's. One thing is certain - no one will outwork him.

I lost patience waiting for the weather to clear after 11 AM, which turned out to be a mistake. I fell asleep doing a crossword puzzle. When I woke and looked out the window, I saw the ground was dry. I set up shop around 2:30 PM, and packed up 15 minutes later when it began drizzling. That's the way it goes some days.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 3, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/3 - Pursuit

Have you ever wondered what you would have done had you lived as a mature adult in the Germany of the 1930's? I've tried to imagine it, but it's impossible to know for certain how I would have behaved. I want to believe my natural distrust of politicians would have won out. Of course, we all would like to believe we would have, if not resisted, at least remained on the sidelines. I have no idea how possible that was for females and the elderly. It certainly wasn't for males old enough to serve. These thoughts were rekindled by an interesting novel I just finished. Pursuit by Robert L. Fish was published in 1978. It is the story of a German SS officer responsible for the deaths of thousands at the Maidanek concentration camp. He sees the war as lost and concocts an escape, undergoing plastic surgery and passing himself off as a Jew, hoping to get to Switzerland where the riches he has stolen are banked. His plan completely unravels. He undergoes an odyssey that leads him to suffer a year in the hell of Bergen-Belsen that almost kills him, followed by a rigorous trek through several European countries, and finally to Israel, where he eventually becomes a hero, rising to the rank of general, saving countless lives but not nearly as many as he killed. Eventually he marries. He loves his Jewish wife and son, but still hates Jews and the country, despite the fact that several saved him on his journey. He does not seek or believe he needs redemption, which is refreshing in a literary character. He fights for three reasons: survival, his love of combat, and his family. I will say nothing further about the plot other than that it takes the easy way out in the end. At one point a character, a young woman who works in a Holocaust archive in Munich, says she believes men are monsters. This is the most interesting aspect of the book. She is generalizing, saying, in effect, the Nazis were no different than most, which seems like heresy coming from one of God's chosen. I wondered how Jews reacted to the novel when it was first issued. Alas, I was unable to find any info on that. While I agree that most men are capable of spur of the moment monstrousness, I believe the calculated, premeditated murder of millions is an entirely different type of evil. Is the protagonist a psychopath? I would say borderline. He is as arrogant as the Nazi officers featured in countless films. He is highly intelligent, a mechanical engineer, but his foremost trait is adaptability, which is Darwinian in a survival-of-the-fittest way, although he would not have made it without help. The prose and dialogue are solid, if a tad overwritten. I don't know if the author traveled to all the countries in which the tale is set, but the atmosphere seems authentic, at least to this reader who has done very little traveling. In fact, that aspect was too detailed for my taste. Fish passed away in 1981 at 83. A Kindle version of the book was released in 2015 and is selling modestly. 15 users at Amazon have rated Pursuit, forging to a consensus of 4.2 of five. One woman rated it only two stars, saying she found it so disturbing she put it down early. Unfortunately, she didn't elaborate. I sense Fish was caught in between writing a standard thriller and a work of profound substance. It is largely the former. Although I read eagerly, I was disappointed in the end. I rate it three. Fish wrote more than thirty novels and many short stories. The Fugitive received an Edgar for debut mystery novel. Moonlight Gardener, a short story, also was earned him that prestigious award. His Mute Witness was adapted to the screen as Bullitt (1968), the popular film starring Steve McQueen. No one knows for sure how many were killed at Maidanek, spelled Majdanek at the virtualjewishlibrary.org. The estimates run from 42,000 to 1,380,000. I found the names of five officers who served at the camp. Colonel Helmut von Shraeder, the main character of Pursuit, was not among them. Perhaps he is entirely fictional. Another aspect the novel brought out keenly is the miracle that is Israel, a desert transformed into an oasis, the only democracy in the Middle East, at first defended with nothing but small arms and with virtually no help from any other countries.

Say it aint so: Hondo, has given up his droll NY Post baseball handicapping column. His replacement, Stitches, has big shoes to fill. Good luck, sir.

My thanks to Johnny, who bought three thrillers, to the woman who purchased The Myth of Sanity: Divided Consciousness and the Promise of Awareness by Martha Stout, and to the gentleman who called his wife on his cell phone to make sure she hadn't read Danielle Steel's Blue, which he bought.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/2 - Looks at Books

Today's NY Post introduces three interesting works of non-fiction. Reed Tucker covers two in separate articles. In one he cites the difficulty of creating a dictionary, which is detailed in Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. I was surprised to discover that "irregardless" is now accepted by Miriam-Webster. Its inclusion has drawn harsh complaints from many. I've always be fascinated by how language evolves, but I side with the naysayers on that one... In And Then You're Dead: What Really Happens If You Get Swallowed by a Whale, Are Shot from a Cannon, or Go Barreling over Niagara by Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty, Tucker highlights a myth I remember well from my youth - what happens to a person hit by a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building. Friends insisted it would kill instantly. According to the authors, the tumbling effect would reduce the speed so that it would cause only a mild sting. On the other hand, a baseball would be traveling at 95 MPH, the same as an MLB fastball, and cause a concussion. A pen would penetrate the skull and be lethal. The authors also provide the best strategy for surviving an elevator plunge - laying flat, which evenly distributes weight... Here's a brave man - the author of Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring. In it, Bassem Youssef details his experiences doing political satire on Egyptian TV. Of course, he began by doing five-minute segments on youtube. Al Bernameg became the most popular show in the country's history. As one would expect, the powers that be weren't pleased. Youseff, now 43, was subjected to a six-hour interrogation and accused of insulting the presidency and Islam. He's lucky he's not in prison - or dead. A doctor specializing in cardiothoracic surgery, he is currently living in California. Did he do the talk show because delicate operations weren't enough to keep his interest?

According to an article in the Post, since 2010 the state of New York has experienced the largest population decline, 4.4%, of  all 50 states. Residents are moving to areas of less taxation and milder weather.

The floating book shop hadn't been to Park Slope, which its residents consider the most literate neighborhood in Brooklyn, in five weeks due to weather concerns. I immediately lucked into a convenient parking spot, which allowed me to display all my wares. Novels by James Patterson, Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel were in plain view, as was an Oprah pictorial and other tasty selections. Alas, the session was a disappointment. A woman took a long look at Rising Star, and a young man who works in the financial industry did the same with Exchanges - and both passed. My thanks to the gentleman who bought two Vince Flynn thrillers, saving me from zero return. Another visitor made the effort worthwhile - a Latino who may have had one too many. He asked for books on voodoo, which his wife practices. He claims that her first husband was murdered, his belly sliced open completely so that his guts fell out, and that she threatens to do the same to him - or to cut his bicho off and feed it to him. Why he wanted to get such a gift for such a woman is beyond me. He was probably just spinning a a yarn.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, April 1, 2017

The Writer's Life 4/1 - No Fools

John Wick (2014) is another entry in the long line of one-man-army flicks, and Keanu Reeves is perfect for the lead. I caught up to it last night courtesy of Netflix. The story is simple: just three days after the funeral of his wife, three knucklehead low level Russian gangsters break into his house, cold-cock him, kill his dog and steal his Mustang. Big mistake. The Russian don, father of one of the knuckleheads, tells his arrogant offspring that Wick is not a bogeyman - he is someone sent to kill the bogeyman. Once the mayhem begins the bodies pile high. The action is crisp, the violence well-staged. Although most of the scenes take place at night, the blood splatter is often visible, more than I've seen in a while in a mainstream work. Of course, the proceedings are ridiculous, but that is to be expected in such fare. Only one part was egregiously faulty. It involves Willem Dafoe. I'll say no more, as it would be a spoiler. Michael Nyquist, a Swede, plays the don. Hollywood vets Ian McShane, Bridget Moynahan and John Leguizamo have small roles. The performances I enjoyed most were by Lance Reddick as a quirky concierge, and Adrianne Palicki as a committed assassin. I was unfamiliar with Palicki's resume, most of which is in popular TV shows I haven't watched. She communicated an intensity that fell refreshingly well short of the stereotypical psychotic. Chad Staheski directed, his first time at the helm after years as a stuntman and actor. He did the recently released sequel as well. Derek Kolstad wrote the screenplay for both films, and is involved in a proposed, eponymous TV series, all of which will probably make him rich. He has created a character that resonates with a solid fan base. Made on a budget of "only" $20 million, John Wick returned more than twice that in the USA alone. After DVD sales and rentals, the producers must be ecstatic. 300,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 7.2 on a scale of ten. I wouldn't go nearly that high, although I found it entertaining, and it runs only an hour-and-forty minutes. Any action fans who haven't seen it would probably love it. Anyone squeamish about violence should pass.  

From dailymail.com, edited by yours truly: Here's a use of drones few have considered: A Dutch startup is set to release a fleet to combat the 220 million pounds of dog poop left on the Netherlands' streets each year. Called Dogdrones, separate devices will work together as a team to detect and scoop up the crap. The aerial drone is fitted with cameras and thermal energy technology that transmits GPS coordinates of the feces to a rolling robot on the ground that immediately leaves its hub to clean up the waste. I would love to see this tried on the sidewalks of NYC. A third drone would likely have to be used for protective surveillance.

April started off splendidly for the floating book shop - no foolin'. My thanks to the lovely young teacher's aide who bought Killing, and to Bill Brown, author of Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's Music, who bought a collection of horror short stories; and to the girl I mistakenly directed to young adult material, who wound up taking only a poetry collection from that box, but three thrillers from the rest of the display. Since her grandma was present, I didn't have to worry about blowback from the irate parents of a 14-year-old.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)