Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 8/25 - Knight

RIP Sir Richard Attenborough, 90, actor, director. I enjoyed his work in front of the camera far more than that behind the camera. He has 78 credits as an actor listed at IMDb, the best known probably the creator of Jurassic Park (1993). He had an impressive run in supporting roles in the 60's: The Great Escape (1963), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Dr. Doolittle (1967). I've seen three of his twelve directorial efforts: Magic (1973), which starred Anthony Hopkins as a ventriloquist gone mad; A Bridge Too Far (1977), an all-star telling of the costly Operation Market-Garden in the latter stages of WWII; and Gandhi (1983). I wasn't crazy about any of them, especially the latter two, which I found tedious, but hey - what do I now? Gandhi was universally praised and garnered Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Attenborough won 29 other awards as well, both for his efforts at the helm and as an actor. He was never nominated for an acting Academy Award. He was knighted in 1976. He was married in 1945 until his death. Here is a quote attributed to him, which many Hollywood types would deny: "I hate and despise the pornography of violence. I don't believe that we can totally excuse ourselves from that situation. I believe that both cinema and film to a certain extent have encouraged it." Well done, sir.

While eating dinner I caught a depressing conversation on Sean Hannity's radio show. A general believes there will be an attack on the U.S. within the next six months, probably on or around 9/11. He thinks it will be on shopping malls and such. I hope it's not true, but, if it is, I hope there will be a lot of armed citizens out and about the day it occurs.

I accompanied a friend to a dental appointment this morning. By the time we returned home, the weekly excursion to Park Slope was out of the question. After driving around for a bit I found a parking spot on 18th Avenue near the corner of 82nd Street, in front of Garibaldi Park. I hadn't set up shop there in a long time, and the result reinforced why it's not worth it do so. I few people browsed, but no one bought. I gave my name to a young man who suffers ADD, whose girlfriend is a voracious reader. I hope he remembers to give it to her. At least I got to watch the kids having fun on the playground. Two boys repeatedly filled a plastic bag with water from the fountain and poured it on the slide, which made it passable. I don't remember anyone of my generation doing that. Maybe today's kids really are smarter. The Asians certainly seem to be.
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 Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx