The Writer's Life 7/3 - Odds & Ends

TVLand recently cancelled The Dukes of Hazzard because the characters ride around in a hot car that has a logo of a Confederate flag emblazoned on its roof. I’ve never seen the show but fondly remember photos of Catherine Bach in her cut-offs. Anyway, an interesting backlash is underway. DVD sales of the series have skyrocketed. Yay! I’ve contemplated wearing a patch of the stars and bars side by side with one of the stars and stripes, but don’t have the guts to do it.

Kudos to the Reelz channel, which is completely unfamiliar to me. It picked up the Donald Trump backed Miss USA Pageant, which was recently dumped by NBC and Univision as a protest against Trump’s recent misguided comments on illegals. Ever since Barilla’s owner was excoriated for his defense of traditional marriage, I’ve been buying his pasta. I would eat at Chick-fil-A, which was also attacked by yahoos, once a week if a shop ever opened in the vicinity.

Good news: Unemployment has slipped to 5.3%. Bad news: if the report is read up to the end, it reveals that the labor participation rate, 62.6%, is at its lowest level since 1977. In his column in today’s NY Post, John Crudele states that the UE stats don’t include those who are not bothering to look for work due to the scarcity in the job market.

As a writer, I love irony. I laughed out loud at an article on an anti-cop group, Disarm NYPD, which held a flag-burning protest in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park. When attacked by an angry group of bikers, police officers spirited the demonstrators to safety.

According to an editorial in the Post, the ratio of worker to retiree in Greece is 4-3. Many retire in their 50’s and are guaranteed 80% of their final salary. Life expectancy is almost 80. The politicians who have allowed this must be proponents of the new math.

My thanks to Goombah, who purchased a Stephanie Laurens romance, to the woman who bought three others, to the one who forked over a buck for a thriller she took on credit a couple of weeks ago, and to the one who bought Leopold Stokowski's Music for All of Us. She knew a woman who played in the conductor's orchestra, quit because she couldn't handle the pressure and criticism, and wound up working in an office. I don't know how people perform under such tension. Fortunately, a rare breed are capable of it.
The highlight of today's session of the floating book shop was Occupy Jack's appearance. He was on his way to Union Square, carrying three signs, one hung around his neck. One said: "No Hillary - Vote for Sanders." And he wants Elizabeth Warren to be VP. It seems he has gone from an advocate of pure capitalism to socialism.
Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5

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://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/